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Who are the 4 bench players for the Sox?


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17 minutes ago, ChiSoxTrojan said:

I think it's more that I haven't been all that impressed with Vaughn. Vaughn is also always hurt, which is a big deal to me, while Sheets is much more durable. I want Vaughn to be fully functional in September, which he hasn't been the last two years.

I'm not suggesting a strict platoon, and I want Vaughn to get more at bats than Sheets overall. But if it were up to me, I'd have Vaughn at 1B no more than 4 times/week, with 2 starts at DH, and 1 day off. That means 2-3 starts/week for Sheets at 1B.

I don't really think its fair to say "Vaughn is always hurt".  The Sox stuck a lifelong 1B in the OF everyday.  That is really hard on the body, especially one that isn't super long and lean like a lot of OFs.  I think we'll see AV be much healthier this year, though I certainly understand the concern with a back issue already presenting itself.

Andrew Vaughn has the ability to be an elite offensive player.  Gavin Sheets has the chance to be a useful platoon bat.  One will be a big leaguer for a very long time, the other has a good chance to be out of the big leagues before his rookie contract is even up.  AV needs to play damn near everyday. 

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1 hour ago, ChiSoxTrojan said:

Agreed. I think Eloy will be in the OF a couple days a week.

That would surprise me. Eloy can DH and what are going to do sit Colas or Benintendi ? All 3 of those guys have to get AB's and a lot of them. SUre maybe sit Colas against really tough LHP like Robbie Ray or LHP who kills lefties but those guys are few and far between and certainly not enough to put Eloy in the OF a couple days a week.

Granted Colas will have some adjustments to go through but he has shown a proclivity for hitting LHP pretty well in the minors.

I don't know if I've seen anyone express this thought on Colas but just from watching ST games, he hits a lot of GB. He worked hard this off season trying to cut down on K's and for the most part it's worked in ST. He's making contact but not getting a lot of balls in the air. He may have worked too hard on making contact and going the other way. He seems to be at his best as a pull hitting power guy. I could live with more K's if he's hitting more doubles and HR's.

I understand what the hitting coaches were trying to work with him on in Miami but maybe it could've been more approach oriented about waiting on his pitch and having a good 2 strike approach rather than getting away from what he does best.

 Hitting for a decent batting average while hitting the ball far for HRs with a high K rate can work in MLB but you have to know the strike zone and take some walks for that to work.

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55 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

I don't really think its fair to say "Vaughn is always hurt".  The Sox stuck a lifelong 1B in the OF everyday.  That is really hard on the body, especially one that isn't super long and lean like a lot of OFs.  I think we'll see AV be much healthier this year, though I certainly understand the concern with a back issue already presenting itself.

Andrew Vaughn has the ability to be an elite offensive player.  Gavin Sheets has the chance to be a useful platoon bat.  One will be a big leaguer for a very long time, the other has a good chance to be out of the big leagues before his rookie contract is even up.  AV needs to play damn near everyday. 

I get that LF is a more demanding position than 1B, but is it that more demanding? It's generally considered to be the second-easiest defensive position to play. You rarely hear about 23-year-old players' bodies betraying the way Vaughn's has.

I'd love nothing more than for Vaughn to have a healthy season as an elite offensive player. I know he has the ability, whereas Sheets has a much lower ceiling. But I want him to go out and prove it on the field, not just have it handed to him. I think that's what bothers me the most about Vaughn's career thus far. He was handed a roster spot in 2021 without any minor league credentials, and since then he has underachieved (relative to expectations), and now he's been anointed the heir apparent to the Thomas/Konerko/Abreu lineage at 1B. People make a lot of excuses for his mediocre performance (which may be warranted!), but I do want him to go out for once in his White Sox career and earn it. Prove he can stay healthy, and prove he can be an elite offensive player that deserves to play every day. If he does that, I'll gladly stop giving reasons why Sheets should eat into his playing time.

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7 minutes ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

That would surprise me. Eloy can DH and what are going to do sit Colas or Benintendi ? All 3 of those guys have to get AB's and a lot of them. SUre maybe sit Colas against really tough LHP like Robbie Ray or LHP who kills lefties but those guys are few and far between and certainly not enough to put Eloy in the OF a couple days a week.

Granted Colas will have some adjustments to go through but he has shown a proclivity for hitting LHP pretty well in the minors.

I don't know if I've seen anyone express this thought on Colas but just from watching ST games, he hits a lot of GB. He worked hard this off season trying to cut down on K's and for the most part it's worked in ST. He's making contact but not getting a lot of balls in the air. He may have worked too hard on making contact and going the other way. He seems to be at his best as a pull hitting power guy. I could live with more K's if he's hitting more doubles and HR's.

I understand what the hitting coaches were trying to work with him on in Miami but maybe it could've been more approach oriented about waiting on his pitch and having a good 2 strike approach rather than getting away from what he does best.

 Hitting for a decent batting average while hitting the ball far for HRs with a high K rate can work in MLB but you have to know the strike zone and take some walks for that to work.

I don't expect Colas to be an everyday player right away. From the few sound bites I've heard from the coaching staff in Spring, they seem like they have some specific things they want him to work on and I think they'll ease him in relatively slowly. I'm not saying he'll be a bench guy, but he'll probably make 4-5 starts/week at first.

I also don't agree with the idea that Colas will only sit against LHP, he's shown the ability to hit LHP just as well as he does RHP (if not better). His days off will come against RHP in addition to LHP.

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I guess I'll be the only(?) one to say I want Romy on the bench. I think he has legit power, unlike most of the UTIL guys, and legit defensive versatility, unlike Burger. So if people can pound the table for Burger after his hot week, I'll throw Romy's hat in the ring, since he now has a higher OPS even after his absolutely dreadful start ?‍♀️Plus he's speedy.

Seby, Romy, Sheets, and Hanser (if they move on from Leury).

Since Romy has options, it wouldn't surprise me if we leave camp with both Leury and Hanser and spend a couple weeks giving Leury a chance to bounce back (and Romy some more time to force the issue).

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45 minutes ago, Autumn Dreamin said:

I guess I'll be the only(?) one to say I want Romy on the bench. I think he has legit power, unlike most of the UTIL guys, and legit defensive versatility, unlike Burger. So if people can pound the table for Burger after his hot week, I'll throw Romy's hat in the ring, since he now has a higher OPS even after his absolutely dreadful start ?‍♀️Plus he's speedy.

Seby, Romy, Sheets, and Hanser (if they move on from Leury).

Since Romy has options, it wouldn't surprise me if we leave camp with both Leury and Hanser and spend a couple weeks giving Leury a chance to bounce back (and Romy some more time to force the issue).

Romy has 3 HRs this Spring (out of his 6 total hits). I know yesterday's was against a RHP, does anyone know about the previous two? Or generally, where to find L/R splits for Spring stats?

I know we're looking at small sample sizes so splitting them further is kind of silly, but I'm curious how he's done against RHP, since that's the only thing that Leury has over him.

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15 minutes ago, ChiSoxTrojan said:

Romy has 3 HRs this Spring (out of his 6 total hits). I know yesterday's was against a RHP, does anyone know about the previous two? Or generally, where to find L/R splits for Spring stats?

I know we're looking at small sample sizes so splitting them further is kind of silly, but I'm curious how he's done against RHP, since that's the only thing that Leury has over him.

And now another homer.

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13 minutes ago, ChiSoxTrojan said:

Romy has 3 HRs this Spring (out of his 6 total hits). I know yesterday's was against a RHP, does anyone know about the previous two? Or generally, where to find L/R splits for Spring stats?

I know we're looking at small sample sizes so splitting them further is kind of silly, but I'm curious how he's done against RHP, since that's the only thing that Leury has over him.

MLB website has ST splits. He just added another homer off a lefty, but the first three were all against RHP. Tiny sample size like you said, but he's slugging .625 vs RHP so far in spring.

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4 hours ago, Autumn Dreamin said:

I guess I'll be the only(?) one to say I want Romy on the bench. I think he has legit power, unlike most of the UTIL guys, and legit defensive versatility, unlike Burger. So if people can pound the table for Burger after his hot week, I'll throw Romy's hat in the ring, since he now has a higher OPS even after his absolutely dreadful start ?‍♀️Plus he's speedy.

Seby, Romy, Sheets, and Hanser (if they move on from Leury).

Since Romy has options, it wouldn't surprise me if we leave camp with both Leury and Hanser and spend a couple weeks giving Leury a chance to bounce back (and Romy some more time to force the issue).

I’m definitely Team Romy.

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5 hours ago, Autumn Dreamin said:

I guess I'll be the only(?) one to say I want Romy on the bench. I think he has legit power, unlike most of the UTIL guys, and legit defensive versatility, unlike Burger. So if people can pound the table for Burger after his hot week, I'll throw Romy's hat in the ring, since he now has a higher OPS even after his absolutely dreadful start ?‍♀️Plus he's speedy.

Seby, Romy, Sheets, and Hanser (if they move on from Leury).

Since Romy has options, it wouldn't surprise me if we leave camp with both Leury and Hanser and spend a couple weeks giving Leury a chance to bounce back (and Romy some more time to force the issue).

That's exactly how it's looking right now. If we don't keep Hanser he's probably gone from the Sox.He's been phenomenal this spring.

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